Home Improvement Project: To Leave or Not to Leave?21st June 2017

Brexit Uncertainty influences the Home Improvement Market

With the housing market – allegedly – on the mend, you might be tempted by the idea of improving your home. By the looks of it, it seems that the time is right to invest in your most beloved asset and spruce up that bathroom, revive that old kitchen and build the extension you only dare inhabit in your wildest dreams. If the thrill of stepping, once again, onto the property ladder is what tickles your fancy, you probably know that the current market is a Darwinian arena where only the fittest survive. Gone are the days of the senseless venture dominated by ludicrous visionaries, of ruthless estate agencies pushing their vocabulary to the limit to depict the shanty cubicle as a “charming and compact cosy property with character” or the “intimate duplex in up-and-coming” parts of the city we have never heard of. If you’re planning to invest in something new in the short term, or if you prefer to simply revamp your cherished family home, the complications lying ahead can be discouraging or even upsetting, but in the long term, your efforts will be rewarded.

If you simply wish to upgrade your home and give it the kick it deserves, you surely know what questions await the fearless investor. Spending less and less on DIY does not necessarily mean that the expenditure on renovating one’s house is in decline. On the contrary, it may reveal that the average family tries to concentrate its efforts on major renovation works, rather than spending on patching up the existing situation. But, quite understandably, the dilemma of whether or not we should adjust the reassuring harmony of our home is often resolved by an evaluation of the pros and cons involved in the complex and often stressful work. Take the financial side, for instance.

Home Improvement Stats for 2016

How much are we Londoners ready to spend on our property to get the home of our dreams? According to research commissioned by one of the national leading brands in the UK house-building sector, Avant Homes, we spend £20,683 on home improvement, while the rest of the UK is set on £13,000.

If numbers are something to go by, it looks as if we love to renovate. According to another survey carried out by one of Britain’s leading financial services comparison websites in 2016, a staggering 42% of us had installed a new kitchen in the previous three years, while 41% of us had our bathrooms completely renovated. Other works included the installation of a new central heating system (31%) and the knocking down of existing walls to create more space (8%). And if this weren’t enough, in the period between April and June of this year, the number of planning applications granted in the UK skyrocketed to 92,000. Still a far cry from the levels of the same period of the year in 2015, when 114,000 permissions were secured by homeowners, but the trend is indeed encouraging as it is beginning to display significant growth in terms of activity related to home renovation works.Whether you are willing to invest in a property and sell your own, or you are simply currently not ready to enter the housing market arena, the result is an increased focus on your current house. What can be learned from the volatility of the market is that investing in your existing property is of the utmost importance. Indeed, this element is confirmed by official data, which shows no significant decrease in the number of planning applications despite the current economic climate.

Housing Market Bubble will recover

The housing market is slowing, but steadily losing that impetus which had made many an observer declare that the bubble was growing. Apart from the physiological ups and downs of such an erratic sector, however, the general impression is that the overall economic situation is on the mend, therefore despite the unpredictability of the housing sector (or even because of it), you should always be prepared to invest in your own property.
So what should you keep in mind when embarking on a renovation project? Apart from the aforementioned financial aspect, one of the main elements to be considered is the stress caused by such works and the implicit violation of your reassuring routine and privacy, which is a natural consequence of having a team of builders smashing floors and carving holes in your treasured property’s walls.

Relocation Housing: move to a serviced apartments while the house work takes place

The buzz, the plan, the sketch, the ideas. Schemes and drawings floating like ghosts in a chalky limbo suspended between the old and the new: material effigies of a compromise between the all too gleaming realm of utopia and your local council’s terms and regulations. In other words: rubble and debris distributed throughout your home make your life domestic hell. Moreover, if the works affect either your bathroom or kitchen, staying in is definitely not an option.
As we have seen, dealing with home improvement projects goes beyond a mere logistical reorganisation. It is rewarding? >Yes, but do you have to go through hell to be able to pluck the fruit of heaven? Not any more. The options at hand are various, and almost all of them come with the inevitable flaws which can be expected when the very serenity and well being of a family is at stake. Cramped hotel rooms? Or are you seriously willing to find refuge at an old uncle’s flat and engage in endless conversations about the disappearance of good work ethics and the rise of a new generation lacking good manners? Luckily, and rather ironically, the array of options at hand in a city like London means that one does not even have to choose: it is possible to find the comfort of your home away from home.The most logical solution is provided by ClarendonLondon.com, one of the leaders in the serviced apartment market. We have come up with a simple idea: a physical place built around the concept that being unable to live in your home for a certain period of time does not have to be a stressful occurrence and add an unneeded – and easily avoidable – burden to the already demanding task of having to renovate. Renting a serviced apartment means having at your disposal a spacious residence that is fully equipped to satisfy the needs of your family and secure the freedom and privacy that would be impossible to maintain in other locations. In brief: you get the kind of services you would receive when renting a hotel room while at the same time keeping the comfort that is proper to your own property. What is more, you can choose the serviced apartment in close proximity of convenient locations or even your place of work, thus turning a temporary disadvantage into a benefit. Chores? An efficient cleaning service means that you can save your energy for other activities offered by your new home. Like practicing your cooking skills in one of the fully-equipped kitchens that allow you to preserve – not simply recreate – the atmosphere of your home.

We pride ourselves on being a modern and dynamic brand in the serviced housing market. Our properties are strategically located in the city’s key areas, and the high standard of the apartments we have on offer, combined with an in-depth knowledge of the demands of today’s family or young professionals, translates into a luxurious, yet cost-effective solution for all types of needs. Comfortable, secure, while well immersed in the vibrancy of the most diverse city in the world, a Clarendon property simply cannot disappoint.
Clarendon offers a temporary, elegant, cost-effective solution to help you make that journey to your new home an experience to remember. Because plans, sketches and your best ideas are better understood and put into practice with a clear mind set.